Like Father, Like Son
by Numb3rsfan
Summary: Events mount, landing Bo in the hospital, but this turns out to be a good thing. Part 1 of the Like Father, Like Son trilogy
1. Chapter 1

**Dukes of Hazzard**

**Title: Like Father, Like Son**

**Author: Numb3rsfan**

**Beta: Anakin's Girl 4eva**

**Rating: PG-13**

**Warnings: None**

**Authors Notes: The charactor of Tyler was originaly thought up by myself and Bo Schneider**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the charactors, wish I did though. LOL.**

**Summary: Events mount, landing Bo in the hospital, but this turns out to be a good thing.**

Chapter One

It was a typical day in Hazzard, with the sun shining through the tree tops, the animals all munching down on plants or berries, and the General Lee being chased by none other than Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.

"Come on cousin, do somethin' fast, or you ain't gonna live to regret it!" Bo said to Luke, who was driving the General.

Luke sighed and urged the General to go faster, even though he didn't want too.

Ever since the last jump, the General had been acting real funny. Cutting out and dying whenever it wanted too, or overheating in most cases.

Luke, Bo and even Cooter Davenport, the mechanic in Hazzard had looked over the General, but none of them could find out why the General was griping.

The General coughed and sputtered, threatening to go out.

"Come on General, not now!" Luke said, looking down at the dashboard for any warning lights to flash on.

Several flashed on at the same time. The low coolent light, the oil light and the service engine soon light.

"Cousin, I hate ta say this but..." Luke began, seconds before something exploded from under the General's hood.

Smoke poured out from under the hood as Luke hurriedly pulled over and slid out, with Bo following quickly.

As Luke and Bo looked at the General, Rosco pulled to a stop behind them.

"We are up duck creek without a paddle." Luke finished his sentance as Rosco 'kew kew'd' and came over to them.

"Alright you Duke Boys, yer under arrest fer grand theft General Lee, an de..de.." Rosco, paused, trying to think of the word.

"Destruction?" Luke asked.

"That too!" Rosco replied, taking out his gun and cuffs.

"Rosco, fer the last time, me an' Bo paid the impound money, an everyone knows that the General belongs ta us!" Luke said.

"See, see that's where yer wrong, naughty, naughty. See, Boss Hogg never accepted that impound money, so the General Lee still belong's to Hazzard County." Rosco replied, reciting what Boss had told him.

Luke sighed as he looked at Bo.

"He's got us there, Bo." Luke said.

"I know it." Bo replied with a groan.

"Kew, kew, I love it, I love it!" Rosco said as he slapped the cuffs on Bo and Luke and put them in to the back of his patrol car.

"Alright, got any bright ideas on how ta get us out'a here?" Bo asked, looking at Luke.

"We can't go anywhere till' Cooter fixes the General." Luke reminded Bo.

"Yeah, but if Uncle Jesse has ta pay to bail us out, again, he won't have enough fer the mortgage payment." Bo shot back.

"I know it." Luke replied with a sigh.

Meanwhile, Rosco had gotten in to the driver's seat of his patrol car, and after contacting Cooter to come tow the General to his shop, Rosco contacted Boss with the good news.

To say that Boss was happy was an understatement. He nearly blew out the speakers on the CB as he sang Rosco's praise in finally arresting the Duke Boys.

"Alright, get em' over to the jail house, an make sure they don't escape." Boss said to Rosco, via the CB.

"Uh, that's a big 10-4, fat little buddy." Rosco replied as he laid the CB down and started the car.

The drive over to the jail was short and sweet, and locking up Bo and Luke was even sweeter, in Boss's opinion.

He could not resist the urge to rub the fact that their bail was going to be so high that they'd be old and grey before they got out, in their faces.

Bo and Luke were placed in one of the cells downstairs, but thankfully they were placed in the cell with the barred up window, so they could at least see what was going on outside.

People milled around, which was normal for Hazzard, course, one thing that wasn't normal was the fact that there were federal agents roaming around the streets.

"Wonder what's goin' on." Bo stated, as he looked at the cars as they drove by.

Luke, who had been sitting on the cot, looked up at Bo, who was standing by the barred window.

"What's goin' on out there?" Luke asked as he stood and moved over to the other side of the window.

Bo glanced at Luke for a second, before returning his gaze to the streets of Hazzard.

"Well, we got federal agents in town." Bo said, running a hand through his hair to smooth down the edges that were sticking up.

"How can ya tell?" Luke asked, taking a peek out of the window.

"Well, their out'a state lisence plate fer one, an the make an model of the car. Fed's always choose them kind'a cars." Bo replied, gesturing to the unmarked, blue car that drove by.

"Cousin." Luke said, wrapping an arm around Bo's shoulders, "Jus because their from out'a state and drive a slow car that sticks out like a sore thumb, don't mean that their feds."

"I guess yer right, but still...that's who they remind me of." Bo replied.

Their friendly chatter continued on for several more minutes before the voices of Uncle Jesse and Daisy were heard along with Boss Hogg.

"Now, J.D. you know them boys in there paid that impound money!" Uncle Jesse roared.

Jesse Duke was mad. After being informed by Enos that Bo and Luke were in jail, Jesse had stopped tending to the farm animals and had rushed over to the jail, with Daisy hot on his heels.

"Uncle Jesse's right, Boss. You ain't got no right ta hold Bo an' Luke!" Daisy said.

"I got the right, on account'a, their impound fee was never accepted!" Boss replied, taking his cigar out of his mouth.

"J.D.!" Jesse roared, half tempted to smack the fat marshmellow into the middle of next week if he didn't release Bo and Luke.

Boss just put the cigar back into his mouth and glared at Jesse.

"Where are ma boys?" Jesse asked, in a tone of voice that would make most men and woman quiver with fear.

"Down there." Boss said, pointing to the wooden stairs.

Still giving Boss an angry look, Jesse walked down the stairs to see Bo and Luke, with Daisy hot on Jesse's heels.


	2. Chapter 2

Like Father, Like Son Chapter 2

Luke and Bo looked up as Uncle Jesse and Daisy entered the downstairs jail cell.

"Uncle Jesse!" Luke said, going over to the bars, with Bo behind him.

"Are you two alright?" Jesse asked as he walked over to them.

"Yes,sir we're fine, but the General ain't. He broke down on Mill Road." Luke replied, putting his hands in to his pockets.

"We know! Cooter has the General in his garage. He says he's gonna replace everything." Daisy said to her cousins as she also walked up to them.

Bo sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, that's good to hear, now uh, how hard's it gonna be ta get me an Luke out'a here?" He asked.

"Boss ain't jus gonna let you go. The price he put on yer bail is outrageous!" Daisy said.

"That bad, huh?" Luke asked.

Daisy nodded her head and glanced back up the stairs.

"Uncle Jesse, you know me an Bo's be'in here ain't right. Ya gotta get us out'a here." Luke said.

Normally, Uncle Jesse would wait on the law, and justice to be served, but not this time! This time he was so boiling mad at JD Hogg, that he was ready and willing to break his boys out of jail!

He walked over and grabbed the keys off of the wall and walked back over to the jail cell.

"Alright, now Daisy an I'll keep Boss an Rosco busy. You two, hightail it out'a town." Jesse said.

"Take Dixie, she's parked out front." Daisy said.

"What? What'll you guys drive?" Luke asked.

He didn't want to leave his cousin and uncle here with no means of transportation.

"The truck's parked across the street, we'll take that!" Jesse replied.

Luke and Bo both smiled and patted Jesse's shoulder.

"Yes, sir, Uncle Jesse!" Bo said as he and Luke took up positions on either side of the entrance.

Daisy and Uncle Jesse walked back up the stairs and moments later, Uncle Jesse voice bellowed at his nephews to get moving!

Bo and Luke ran up the stairs and saw Boss trapped in a jail cell, and Rosco cowering under the big desk with Daisy holding a mop handle to his back!

Neither of the two Duke boys stayed to watch, they just ran through the double swinging doors of the police station and exited the building.

True to Daisy's word, Dixie was parked right out front.

Both boys ran towards the jeep, and while Luke slipped in to the passanger seat and started the engine, Bo slid across the hood and jumped in to the driver's seat.

He got the jeep in to gear and took off.

The minute the jeep roared away from the police station, Rosco ran outside and headed towards his police car.

"Kew, kew, they...oh...I'll get em, hot pursuit!" Rosco muttered as he got in to the driver's seat of his patrol car.

Flash, his 'faithful' hound dog was in the backseat, snoring away, not really caring about the chase.

Within seconds, Rosco roared away from the police station, in hot pursuit of Dixie and the two Duke boys.

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"Bo, we got company!" Luke said, looking behind them.

He had seen the police cruiser, but he hadn't gotten a good look at it.

Bo looked in the side mirror, before glancing behind them.

He paled and returned his eyes to the road.

"Cousin. Look back there an tell me who ya see." Bo said, tightning his grip on the steering wheel.

Luke looked back and also paled.

"Sheriff Little." He said, before he faced front and gulped.

"What's he doin' here?" Bo asked, nearly panicking as he tried to get more speed out of Dixie.

"Let's not stay an find out!" Luke replied, glancing over at Bo.

Bo left Snake Nation Road and turned on to another dirt road, leading to Hopkins Crossing, with Sheriff Little following close behind.

Unknown to them, Sheriff Little had been passing through Hazzard when he had heard Rosco's call for assistance on the CB.

Naturaly he came to 'lend a hand.' Especially when it involved capturing the Dukes!

Luke looked back in time to see Sheriff Little aiming his pistol out the window.

"Uh, oh. Don't look now cousin. But uh, Sheriff Little is about ta start shootin'!" Luke said.

"What!" Bo asked, glancing at the side mirror just as it shattered.

"Get us out'a here!" Luke said, urging Bo on.

Bo floored the jeep, but it did little to help when it came to bullets.

Two pinged off the side of the jeep and one hit the spare tire.

Up ahead, laying on the road, was a large boulder that had fallen down the hill right next to the road several days ago.

"Bo, watch out!" Luke said.

Bo swirved to avoid the rock and the same time that Sheriff Little fired his gun.

The bullet pierced the rear, driver side tire, causing the jeep to flip.

Both Bo and Luke fell out of the jeep as the vehical came to a stop on it's side.

Luke was laying on his right side, facing away from the jeep. There were cuts and bruises all over his face and torso, but Bo wasn't so lucky.

When the jeep flipped, Bo was thrown out and landed directly on the boulder.

The hit shattered his ribs and broke several bones in his arm and leg, as well as caused some major internal bleeding.

No, Bo lay on his back. His left leg folded up and an odd angle, and his right arm laying under his back.

Blood trickled down his mouth and nose to splatter against his yellow shirt.

Sheriff Little stopped his car and surveyed the damage before he grabbed his CB and requested an ambulance and wrecker come out to the scene of the accident.

After that, Sheriff Little contacted Rosco and told him what had happened.

At first, Roso had been suprised, but then he grew worried. He never wanted Bo and Luke to be hurt, and judging by what Sheriff Little told him, the crash had been a bad one.


	3. Chapter 3

Like Father, Like Son Chapter 3

From the moment Luke and Bo entered the hospital on stretchers, they were seperated from each other.

Doctors swarmed around both of them, rushing them to the ER, but that was as close as they got to each other.

Thankfully, Luke had been awake for the trip to the hospital, so he knew that Bo was really hurt bad, but none of the paramedics would give him any specifics.

Since he had been lying down, Luke had only glimpsed Bo's blood covered hand, and that was it.

Now, exactly two hours after arriving, Luke was in a room, waiting for news on his cousin.

Luke's injuries hadn't been that bad. Only two broken ribs and a sprained arm, along with the common cuts and bruises.

Uncle Jesse and Daisy were there with him, having come within the first thirty minutes.

Enos had been kind enough to go out to their farm and tell them what had happened.

"Luke, stop fidgetin', Bo's gonna be ok." Uncle Jesse said, noticing Luke's restless fingers.

Looking up, Luke let go of the loose thread on his blanket that he had been messing with.

"I know that Uncle Jesse, I jus..." Luke said, breaking off his sentance.

"We're all worried about em, Luke. We jus' gotta calm down an wait." Jesse replied.

Luke sighed and nodded his head.

He still couldn't believe that Sheriff Little had actually fired at them like he had.

Sheriff Little must have gotten tired of trying to be nice about it, Luke guessed.

While Luke was thinking about the crash, several doctors were in the OR, trying to save Bo's life.

To the doctors, it was hard to believe Bo was still alive, because he had massive internal injuries, including several broken ribs which were pressing against one of Bo's lungs.

Besides the broken ribs, arm and leg, Bo also had a concussion, which was to be expected from the type of accident he had had.

"Sir, losing breath sounds on his right lung." A nurse said.

"What? I thought we had that one stabilized!" The doctor said as he looked at the nurse.

"Well, not anymore, sir." The nurse replied.

The doctor ordered that the intake of oxygen Bo was recieving, be increased, and he also ordered several more IV's, including a bag of Ringer's Lactate TKO.

The IV's and O2 helped to stabilize the lung a little while the doctors proceeded to look at the lung.

The lung was extremaly damaged, barely functioning at all.

Blood, and a ton of bruises surround the area around the lung, forcing the doctors to take it easy while they patched up the damaged lung.

Finally they got the lung stabilized completly, and all of the internal bleeding stopped.

Next, they set Bo's broken limbs and put them in a cast before they moved him to Luke's room, per Luke and Uncle Jesse's request.

-------------------------------------

Two days slowly passed, and Bo was still unresponsive.

The doctors assured the Dukes that Bo's behavior was normal, and to just give him time.

Luke tried to remember this as he talked with his cousin, trying to get him to wake up.

Even Uncle Jesse and Daisy talked with Bo, but nothing seemed to work.

Finally, Luke started to talk to Bo about random things, hoping to get him to respond.

"Bo, remember our dream of goin' on the NASCAR circuit? Well, that ain't gonna happen unless you wake up." Luke said, as he watched his cousin.

Not one word, or moan came out of Bo, so Luke then threatened to take Bo's current girlfriend to the next dance in two weeks, hoping that this would get a rise out of the sleeping Duke, but nothing happened.

Luke talked for hours on end, never taking his eyes off of his cousin. He never stopped begging and pleading with his cousin to wake up, always hoping that the next time he spoke was going to be the time when Bo woke up.

"Bo, now come on, you've slept long enough." Luke said in an almost pleading voice.

With a sigh, he lowered his head and closed his eyes, but his head snapped back up, and his eyes opened when he heard Bo mumble, "Jus five more minutes."

A smile spread across Luke's face when he heard Bo speak.

"Bo, better get up, or Uncle Jesse's gonna whoop yer tail." Luke warned.

Suddenly, Bo's eyes snapped open at the threat. He gulped and looked at Luke like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I'm kiddin, Bo!" Luke said with a slight chuckle.

Bo gave a slight, tired sigh as a small smile came to his face.

"It's great ta have you back, cousin." Luke said as he patted Bo on the shoulder.

"Why? Did I go somewhere's?" Bo asked.

Luke snorted as he replied, "You have no idea!"

_'Bo nearly dies an he asks 'did I go somewhere's?' uh, yeah cousin, I'd say ya almost went somewhere's!'_ Luke thought as he continued to smile at his cousin.

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Several days passed, and Bo slowly grew stronger.

His leg and arm were still in a cast, and the bruises on his chest were slowly healing up, but he was still confined to the bed, which was something he didn't like one bit!

Luke, on the other hand was allowed to get up and walk...well hobble around a little, just so long as he took it easy, which he did.

Uncle Jesse and Daisy came to see Luke and Bo every single day.

They were glad that Bo was awake and getting stronger, and they were all looking forward to the day when Bo could go home.

The family was sitting around Bo's bed, talking when all of a sudden they heard a loud shriek coming from somewhere outside.

They all looked towards the door as it opened and a small boy, who looked to be no more than twelve years old, ran in and fell to the floor.

Tears lined the boy's face as he looked up at the Dukes.

Bo looked at the boy carefully.

The boy was short, around 5 ft tall, with short, brownish hair, which was a little lighter than Luke's hair. He also had blue eyes which at the moment were filled with tears.

Small specks of blood from several yanked out IV lines coated the boy's hospital gown, which was all wrinkly, suggesting a hurried flight.

"Well, hi there, cutie!" Daisy said with a smile on her face.

The boy looked at her uncertantly before he looked back at the door when he heard footsteps approaching.

Quickly he slid under Bo's bed, but not before begging the Dukes not to tell the doctors he was there.

Bo, who didn't know what to say, only nodded his head as he looked down, watching the boy scoot under his bed.

He looked back up and at the door as he also heard the footsteps approaching.

Not two seconds later, the door opened and two doctors walked in.

"Sorry to inturrupt, but did a twelve year old boy by the name of Tyler Gorden come in here?" One of the doctors asked as he looked around the room, looking for the runaway boy.

Slowly, all of the Dukes shook their heads and watched as the doctor's left, closing the door behind them.

Once the doctor's were gone, Tyler crawled out from under the bed.

He stood up and backed up against the wall, staying as far away from the Dukes as possible. Seconds ticked by without Tyler making any eye contact, or any contact at all, for that matter, with any of them.

Bo regarded the obviously frightened child carefully. He could tell that the boy was practically afraid of his own shadow, since the boy was shaking like a leaf, taking breif glances at them.

Feeling sorry for the boy, Bo decided to try and reach out to Tyler and hopefully become his friend.

Taking a deep breath, Bo asked,"Why were you running from them?"

Tyler looked at Bo carefully, before he decided to answer the question.

"I don't trust em'. They killed my momma."

All of the Dukes looked at each other, completly shocked at Tyler's words, before Bo patted his bed, right beside where Daisy sat.

"Why don'tcha sit down up here?" Bo offered.

Slowly Tyler pulled himself up on the very edge of the bed, keeping a wary eye on Bo and Daisy.

Bo gave a small smile as he said, "Don't worry kiddo, I don't bite."

Tyler returned the smile and relaxed a little.

He didn't know why but he liked these people and thought he could trust them.

Slowly, and with slightly more trust, Tyler took a good look at all of them, holding their gaze for several seconds before he looked to the next person.

"Well, ya'll know my name, but I don't know yer's." Tyler said, looking down for a second, before he looked at them.

"Well, I'm Bo Duke, that's ma cousin Luke, an my cousin Daisy, an this is our Uncle Jesse." Bo said, pointing out his family to Tyler, who again looked at them all, but this time with a slight smile on his face. After several seconds, Tyler hopped off the bed and shook hands with all of the Dukes.

"Nice ta meet ya'll." He said.

Daisy smiled and hugged Tyler as she replied, "It's nice ta meet ya too, suga'."

Tyler smiled when Daisy hugged him, deciding that he really liked it when Daisy hugged him.

He was really starting to like this family, and not just because they were being nice to him, but it was rather because they had this air about them that was so trustworthy that anyone who met them, knew that they could trust the Dukes.


	4. Chapter 4

Like Father, Like Son Chapter 4

Days went by, and Bo kept bugging everyone from the doctors, to his own family, to get them to release him, with no results.

A time or two, he even complained to his new friend, Tyler, who came to visit him every single day.

After three days, Tyler finally decided to help Bo 'escape' from the hospital by taking him to the backdoor of the hospital.

With this decided, Tyler put his plan in to action.

He went down the hall to a closet and quickly 'borrowed' a doctor's lab coat and brass name tag. Pocketing the name tag, Tyler folded the lab coat and walked back to Bo's room, where Bo lay, or rather sat on his bed.

Without saying a word, Tyler turned off the heart monitor and carefully took out Bo's IV before he handed Bo the lab coat and brass name tag.

"What's this fer'?" Bo asked, looking at the items in his hands, before looking back up at Tyler.

With a slight roll of his eyes, Tyler replied, "This are to help ya get out of the hospital, unless ya want to stay!"

Bo paled slightly at the mention of staying in the hospital, so he slipped the lab coat and and attached the name tag before he stood and followed Tyler out of the room.

With an air of confidence, Tyler and Bo strode down to the back of the hospital and towards the rear entrance.

"There's the door. Now, I already talked to yer cousin, he's waitin' on the other side." Tyler said as he stopped by the big metal door that led to the outside world.

Bo also stopped before he flashed his famous Duke smile at the twelve year old. He was very grateful that Tyler had done this for him with no hassles.

"What about you? You comin' to?" Bo asked as he put a hand on the door to push it open.

Tyler lowered his gaze as he replied, "I ain't got nowhere to go."

What he said was the truth, he did have nowhere to go except back to his bed so the doctor's could stick him full of IV's like a guinea pig.

For the past six years, Tyler had been suffering for a type of cancer. No matter what the doctor's did, they couldn't get it to go away, and since the cancer was in a very delicate place, they couldn't operate, and Tyler's father, Kyle Gordon, wouldn't let the doctor's put Tyler through chemotheropy or radiation.

Bo, seeing the look of depression in Tyler's eyes, slowly put a hand on the boy's shoulder, causing Tyler to look at him.

"You do have somewhere to go, Tyler. You can go home with me...if you want." Bo offered.

Slowly, the sparkle returned to Tyler's eyes, as a small smile came to his face.

"R..really?" He asked, slightly disbelieving.

Bo offered another smile as he nodded his head.

"Really." He replied.

Without another word, Tyler closed the distance between them, and hugged Bo fiercly as he blinked back the tears.

Bo quickly hugged Tyler back before he released the boy and opened the door.

Sure enough, Luke was leaning against the General Lee, which was parked right outside the door.

"That's yer car!" Tyler asked, looking at the General Lee in absolute amazement.

He had never seen a more obvious, yet wonderful stockcar in all his life.

"Yep! The one an' only General Lee!" Bo replied as he put an arm around Tyler's shoulders and led him over to the car.

"'Bout time you two got out'a there." Luke said jokingly as he stopped leaning on the General.

Bo shot him a look as he replied, "Oh, hush up Lukas!"

With a little help from Bo, Tyler managed to climb in to the backseat.

The process was a little difficult, because he was a little short for his size, but finally he was in the car.

"Why don'tcha ride shotgun." Bo suggested to the boy, who looked up at Bo in amazement.

"Can I?" He asked, shocked that Bo had even suggested it!

"Sure! Luke can take the backseat this time." Bo said as he slid in to the General's driver's seat.

With a smile on his face, Tyler immediatly climbed in to the passenger seat, while Luke got in to the backseat.

Once everyone was settled, Bo fired up the General, and raced away, back towards the farm.

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On the drive back to the farm, they began to talk about their families.

Bo told Tyler how he and Luke had grown up with their Uncle Jesse at the farm, and had helped him run moonshine, while in turn, Tyler told them all about his life.

"I was five when my mom was first taken to the hospital. I watched her as the doc's treated her, but nothing they did ever seemed ta help, so she died. Next year, I got sick. The doctor's did tests and found out that I was sufferin' from the same stuff that killed my mom." Tyler said, looking out the window at the passing scenery.

Bo grimaced as he drove down the road.

He felt really sorry for this boy, who seemed so full of life, and yet who probably wouldn't live to see his 16'th birthday.

Several times he glanced at the boy, expecting him to keel over any second. When nothing happened, Bo sighed.

"Can't they operate?" He asked after several minutes of silance.

Tyler shook his head before he looked at Bo.

"Doc said they couldn't get to the tumer without killin' me, so my dad said it wasn't worth it." Tyler replied.

Bo and Luke's jaw dropped.

"Wasn't worth it! What kind of father is he!" Bo nearly roared.

Tyler didn't reply, instead he just looked out the window, not wanting to argue because he was growing increasingly tired.

After allowing himself a few minutes to calm down, Bo thought of an idea.

"Want to go fishin' with me once we get home?" He asked the boy.

Tyler thought about Bo's request for a second, before he turned to look at the blondie haired Duke boy.

"Sure, I'd like that." He replied with a small smile.

Bo reached over and ruffled Tyler's hair, before he pulled the General Lee to a stop at the farm.

Luke immediatly got out of the General and went inside, while Bo slid out and sat on the General's door frame, while Tyler did the same.

"Let me jus' run inside an tell Uncle Jesse that we're goin' fishin', then we can grab the stuff an' go." Bo said, before he climbed the rest of the way out of the car.

Tyler nodded his head, but didn't get out of the car.

"Kay. I'll wait out here for ya." Tyler said.

Bo smiled before he turned and entered the farmhouse to confer with his Uncle Jesse.

While Bo was gone, Tyler looked around the farmhouse.

It was quiet, if you didn't pay attention to the animals out front.

A small smile came to Tyler's face as he imagined living there, and he decided right away, that doing so, wouldn't be a bad thing, in fact, it would be kind of cool.

Slowly, Tyler finally got out of the car, but the moment his feet touched the ground, Tyler felt light headed and the roaring in his ears was something that he couldn't ignore.

Tyler had a feeling that he should stay and rest, since all of the treatments and medicines the doctor's kept pumping in to him always left him tired, but Tyler shook his head. There was no way that he was going to skip out on the fishing trip with Bo!

With great effort, Tyler made it to the porch and sat down, but not two minutes later, Bo came back out and jumped off the porch.

"You ready to go, kiddo?" He asked as he smiled at Tyler.

Tyler returned the smile as best he could as he shakily stood.

His legs nearly buckled, forcing Tyler to practically hold on to the farmhouse to keep from falling down.

"You ok?" Bo asked, as he put a supportive hand on Tyler's shoulder.

Once Tyler felt like he wouldn't pass out anytime soon, he flashed a smile at Bo.

"I'm alright, jus' got a little dizzy fer a second." He replied.

Bo looked at Tyler, slightly disbelievingly. "Ya sure?" He asked.

Again, Tyler nodded his head.

Bo squeezed his shoulder before he put his hand down.

"Well, if yer sure, why don'tcha wait in the General, while I go an get the stuff." Bo suggested.

"Kay." Tyler replied as he walked over to the General's passenger side.

He waited till Bo was out of sight before he struggled to climb in to the car.

It took a little longer than he thought, but he was finally in, but the strain of climbing in to the car left his arm muscles shaking with exhaustion.

Two minutes later, Bo came back with the fishing stuff, which he stashed in the backseat.

With practiced ease, he slid in to the car and turned to look at Tyler, who had grown a little pale, and who looked like he was shaking a little!

"You sure yer alright?" Bo asked with genuine concern written all over his face.

Tyler turned tired eyes to look at Bo before he replied, "I'm fine, let's jus' go."

Bo sat there a moment, not really knowing what to do, before he fired up the General and began the drive to the fishing pond, while every once in a while throwing glances at Tyler, who had, by that time, fallen asleep.

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With Bo's nerves getting the better of him, he decided to make a little side trip to see the Hazzard County doctor, Doc Appleby, who's office was a few miles away from the fishing pond.

When Bo got to the doctor's office and turned off the General, he reached out a hand and shook Tyler's shoulders.

Tyler didn't respond for several minutes, which really worried Bo.

"Tyler, come on buddy, wake up." Bo urged, continuing to shake Tyler's shoulder.

Finally, Tyler opened his eyes, sat up and yawned before he turned tired, blue eyes to look at Bo.

"What's wrong?" Tyler asked, seeing Bo's slightly worried gaze.

"You don't seem like yer alright to me, so we made a little side trip to Doc Appleby's." Bo said, hoping against hope that Tyler wouldn't get mad at the fact that he had brought the boy to a doctor.

"A doctor? I don't need ta see a doctor! I'm fine!" Tyler said as he got out and sat on the doorframe of the car, but Tyler's small jump to sit on the doorframe, actually made him fall out of the car and on to the ground below.

"Tyler!" Bo said, getting out of the car and rushing over to the boy, just as Tyler sat up and put a hand to the back of his head.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tyler replied as he, with the help of Bo, stood up.

Not two seconds later, Doc Appleby burst out of his office and asked, "What in the blue blazes' goin' on out here!"

Bo turned to address the doctor, while Tyler crossed his arms, clearly not to happy.

"I was wonderin' if you could make sure Tyler's alright. He acts like he's not feeling to well, but he won't tell me if he is or not." Bo said to the doctor.

The doctor turned to look at the twelve year old, who was practically glaring at the ground, though from what Doc Appleby could see, the boy did indeed look a little sick.

As Doc Appleby moved out to lead Tyler inside, Tyler shrieked and batted the older man's hands away.

"Get away from me!"

"Tyler, listen to me. Doc Appleby's saved my hide more times than you know. He won't hurt you!" Bo said, trying to reasure the frightened boy.

With uncertantly shining in his eyes, Tyler spared a glance at Bo.

"You..sure?" He asked, his voice clearly wavering.

"I'm not only sure, I'm positive." Bo replied with a smile on his face.

Tyler looked down for a second, before he began to feel a little sick to his stomach.

He was keenly aware of the roaring in his ears growing louder, before a weight seemed to settle in his ears, closing off all the sounds from the outside world, except for the roaring in his ears.

Tyler blinked several times and stumbled forward, before he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Bo watched Tyler fall, before he rushed over to the boy.

Even though Doc Appleby reached Tyler's side first, he allowed Bo to pick the boy up, which Bo did without so much as a grunt.

Swiftly, Doc Appleby led Bo, with Tyler in his arms, inside the building and to the exam room.

"Put him on the table." Doc Appleby instructed as he grabbed some gloves and snapped them on.

As carefully as he could, Bo laid Tyler down on the exam table and stepped back as Doc Appleby examined him.


	5. Chapter 5

Like Father, Like Son Chapter 5

Right after Doc Appleby drew some blood from the unconscious boy, and left the room to have the blood analyized, Tyler woke up.

Slowly, and with an effort, Tyler opened his tired eyes and looked around the exam room.

The lights in the room were dimmed, so they didn't hurt his eyes, but it made looking around the room, a little difficult.

A voice asked, "Tyler, how ya feeling?"

Tyler looked around before his eyes settled on the worried face of Bo Duke, who was sitting right beside the exam room table.

After his brain processed Bo's question, Tyler tiredly replied, "Tired."

Bo gave a little bit of a smile before he patted Tyler's arm and said, "Why don't you go ahead and rest."

With conviction, Tyler shook his head.

"Don't want to rest."

"Ok, do you wanna talk for awhile?" Bo suggested, eager to try and help his young friend.

Tyler weakly nodded his assent and waited for Bo to start talking.

Bo despritly tried to think of anything to say. Coming up with nothing, he looked back at Tyler.

"So...do you wanna tell me a little bit more about you? An' then after that I can tell you about me." Bo offered.

Desiding that the arrangement was acceptable, Tyler sighed and began to speak.

"I was four before my family moved from Flordia to Hazzard. A year later ma got sick. She..she spent the last year of her life couped up in a hospital because the doc's said they could make her better! But they lied, and ma died!" Tyler broke off as several tears ran down his face.

He wiped them away before continuing.

"Four months later I got sick. Doc's said I have it too."

Unsure of what to say, Bo pulled Tyler in to a brotherly hug, letting Tyler know that he would be there for the boy.

"Tyler, what happened to your mother wasn't the doctor's fault, it was the cancer's." Bo said, finally looking Tyler in the eyes.

"They said that they could make her better! They lied!"

"Tyler, I'm sure they tried to help her. My Aunt Lavinia had cancer and they tried to get rid of it, but it was to bad and she didn't make it either." Bo replied sadly.

Wanting to change the subject, Bo wiped the lone tear from his face, before he cleared his throat and said, "Well, I grew up here in Hazzard with my uncle and cousins after my folks died when I was a baby. Me and Luke built the General Lee together and at one point in time we went to the NASCAR circuit. After winning a few races, we decided to come home."

Tyler listened with intrest until Bo finished speaking.

When he was done, Tyler said, "You really raced on the NASCAR circuit? That's cool!"

"Yep, won every race!" Bo said with a smile.

They continued to chat for several minutes, waiting for Doc Appleby to come back.

The minutes passed by like hours before Doc Appleby came back with a somewhat grim look on his face.

"What do the test results say?" Bo asked, having a feeling that he already knew the answer.

His suspicions were confirmed when Doc Appleby said, "The reason the boy fainted was because of his cancer."

Bo shut his eyes and lowered his head. He didn't want to hear those words, but he had known that they were coming.

It was such a shame to him, that someone so young as Tyler could be dieing.

"The doc said it was gettin' worse." Tyler muttered, trying to let Bo know that what had happened earlier wasn't his fault.

"I wish there was somethin' that I could do to help you." Bo said, looking up at Tyler with sad eyes.

"Yeah, me too. What I want to do right now is get out'a here." Tyler said with a sigh, having had enough of hospitals to last a lifetime.

Bo looked at Doc Appleby and asked if it was alright for him to take Tyler home.

"Yes it is alright, just make sure that he doesn't overdue it." Doc Appleby replied as he watched Bo help Tyler up and off the exam room table.

With Bo's help, Tyler managed to get outside and to the General with no problems.

Once he was inside, Bo walked around to the driver's side, slid in and started the car.

He looked at Tyler for a moment before he started the drive back to the farm, deciding to cancel the fishing trip for now.

----------------------

By the time they arrived back at the farm, Tyler was rested enough to be able to crawl out of the car and head inside without much help.

He walked to the couch and collasped on to it, while Bo went to his and Luke's bedroom. He came back out with a NASCAR first place trophy in his hands.

With a smile he walked over to the couch and handed the trophy to Tyler, who looked at it with amazement.

Bo, seeing the joy in Tyler's eyes, finally made a desision.

"You can have the trophy." Bo said.

"Really? I can have it!" Tyler asked as a small smile grew on his face.

"Yep! I figured the best little brother deserves one of the best things I got, and that's it." Bo said with a smile.

Tyler hugged Bo gratefully, for both the trophy and for the 'brotherly' acknowledgment.

When they had been driving home, they had been talking about their family's and how Bo had always had Luke to look up to, while Tyler had no one but himself to look up to.

Right then and there, Bo had made the offer to become Tyler's big brother, if he had wanted, and Tyler accepted the offer gratefully, very happy that he finally had someone to depend on.

Just then, Luke came into the room and saw one of Bo's most cherished trophy's in the hand of the twelve year old.

"Hey there kiddo, what're you doin with one of Bo's trophies?" Luke asked.

"He gave it to me!"

"He what? There's no way he'd ever give away one of his trophies!" Luke said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well he did!" Tyler shot back, clutching the trophy tightly.

Bo looked at Luke and tried to smooth things over.

"He's tellin' the truth Luke, I did give it to him." Bo said, slightly angery that Luke would openly accuse Tyler of stealing.

Bo looked back over at Tyler to see him still clutching the trophy like a life line.

"Just ignore Luke, he can get a little naive sometimes." Bo said.

Luke crossed his arms, resenting that remark.

"Hey!"

"Well it's true!" Bo replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Tyler shrank back against the couch, hating to hear the two cousins argueing like they were.

He was so scared that he let go of the trophy and put his hands over his ears!

Finally, with no end to the arguement in sight, Tyler lept up off the couch and dashed outside, wanting to get away. Tyler's behavior stopped the arguement immediatly.

"Look what'cha did now, Lukas!" Bo said angerily before he ran outside after Tyler.


	6. Chapter 6

Like Father, Like Son Chapter 6

Tyler ran and ran, going first one way and then another.

He had no earthly idea where he was going, but all he knew was that he was going away from the farm, and more importantly, away from the argument.

"Tyler, where are you?" Bo yelled over and over as he followed Tyler's tracks in to the woods.

Of course, Tyler wasn't deaf, so he clearly heard Bo's calls, but he was afraid that if Bo found him, the yelling would start again, so he ignored Bo's calls.

A small clearing was up ahead, so Tyler stopped on the outer edge of it.

He looked both ways trying to figure out where to go, while behind him, he could hear Bo closing in.

Panic set in, causing Tyler to just keep running straight.

He got to the other edge of the clearing before the ground gave away under his feet, sending Tyler to the bottom of an old, rusty, half buried oil tank, which had long since been abandoned.

The oil was practically sludge, but still Tyler couldn't help but swallow just a tiny bit of it as he went under the surface of the oil.

Swiftly he fought his way back to the top before he coughed and wiped the filthy stuff out of his eyes.

"Help!" Tyler yelled, hoping that Bo was close enough to hear him.

Seconds went by without any answering call, before Bo found Tyler, shoulder deep in something that looked like a cross between muddy water and brown oil.

"Tyler! Are you alright?" Bo asked as he stayed away from the very edges of the collasped tank.

"I'm alright!" Tyler called back up to Bo, while he thought,_'For the most part.'_

Bo looked down and knew that he wouldn't be able to pull Tyler up and out of the tank without some rope, or a good, strong branch of some kind.

Looking around, Bo saw that all of the branches looked brittle and dead. Certaintly none of them would be able to withstand Tyler's weight for any long period of time.

Going against his better judgement, Bo knew that he was going to have to leave Tyler, so that he could go back to the farm for a coil of rope.

"Tyler, I'm gonna have to leave for a bit, but I promise ya, I'll be back. Just hold on for a little while longer." Bo said, looking down at the trapped child.

With a slight sigh, Tyler nodded his head and treaded the sludge as he listened to Bo's fading footsteps.

----------------

As quickly as he could, Bo dashed back to the farm, trying to remember where Uncle Jesse had stored the rope.

It had been a long time since the Dukes had needed to use any rope, so Bo had forgotten where it was.

He knew that in this case, every second counted, so he yanked open the front door and dashed in to the kitchen, where Uncle Jesse was making his famous crawdad bisque.

"Uncle Jesse..." Bo said, breathing hard.

Jesse put spoon and turned towards his nephew, who was a little pink in the face, and who had tiny droplets of sweat running down his face.

"Where's...where's the coils...of rope?" Bo asked, inbetween gasps for air.

"They're in the hayloft in the barn. Why do ya need em'?" Jesse asked as he turned the fire down low and followed Bo to the barn.

"Can't explain now, Uncle Jesse, all's I can say is that Tyler's in some deep trouble." Bo replied as he climbed the ladder and immediatly saw the rope hanging on the wall.

Quickly he yanked down a coil of rope and climbed back down to where his Uncle Jesse was standing.

"Are ya gonna need some help?" Jesse asked.

Bo shook his head as he headed outside.

"I don't think so, Uncle Jesse, least ways, not until I get Ty home."

With a slight nod of his head, Jesse watched as Bo left the farm in quite a hurry.

------------------

Tyler shivered as the coldness of the sludge seeped in to his very bones.

His muscles were aching from having to work to keep his head above the sludge for so long.

He knew that Bo was going as fast as he could, but to Tyler, that just didn't seem fast enough.

And not only that, but the sludge that Tyler had swallowed, was now starting to make him a little nauseous, light headed and feverish.

Tyler coughed, causing his aching muscles to scream, begging him to stop treading the sludge and just rest, but he knew that he couldn't, or he'd drown.

Finally, Tyler's prayers were answered when he heard the sound of some hurried footsteps approaching his location.

The twelve year old looked up into the pink, sweaty face of Bo Duke, who skidded to a stop and stood there, catching his breath for a second.

Bo's gasps for air was evident, even to Tyler's sludge covered ears.

"You..al..alright?" Tyler asked through slightly chattering teeth.

"Yeah...fine...you?" Bo asked as he coughed and then gulped in some much needed oxygen, before he began to uncoil the rope.

"B..been..better." Tyler replied as he finally stopped treading the sludge and hugged his dirty body tightly to try and preserve some body heat.

He had never known that something so filthy could be so cold as the sludge that he was trapped in, but it was, and he couldn't wait to get out and get warmed up. He just prayed that his stomach would calm down.

Tyler blinked the sweat out of his eyes, guessing by how much he was sweating, that he was running a fever, course, since he felt chilled, he certantly didn't feel the fever!

Finally, Tyler watched as Bo lowered one end of the rope, that had been made in to a noose, down to him.

"Slip the noose under yer arms, then up tight under yer armpits." Bo instructed as he held the rope steady.

Shivering, Tyler slowly moved over to the rope and clumsily did as Bo instructed.

"O..k..." Tyler said through chattering teeth as he tightened the noose as best he could.

Bo nodded his head before he slowly started to pull the boy up out of the tank.

It was hard work, the thick muddy oil sludge weighing Tyler down.

Several times Bo had stopped, but Tyler's coughs and near wheezes urged him on, till finally Bo reached over and hooked his hands under Tyler's shoulders and hauled the boy up out of the tank.

He laid the boy down on the ground, before he collasped beside the boy.

Though it was hard to tell with all of the sludge covering him, Tyler's arms were wrapped around the boy, and he was shivering, almost uncontrolably as his body fought to retain the body heat it so despritly needed.

After several minutes, when Bo had caught his breath and given his arm muscles a chance to rest, he looked over at Tyler, who hadn't noticabally moved the whole time.

Getting slightly worried, Bo stood up and picked up the filthy boy, holding him close, not carrying that he was getting the sludge on his blue and yellow shirt that he was wearing, the yellow one over the blue one.

"Need to get home an call the doc." Bo said as he started off for the farm, Tyler in his arms.

Even though he was still shivering, Tyler shook his head fiercly. "N..no..d..doctors."

"Don't worry, I'll have'em come to the house." Bo replied reasurringly as he semi hugged Tyler closer for a second.

Tyler, knowing that he had lost that round, closed his mouth and focused on trying to warm up, as Bo carried him onward, back to the Duke farmhouse.


	7. Chapter 7

Like Father, Like Son Chapter 7

Thirty minutes later, the farmhouse came in to sight, causing Bo to sigh greatfully.

With renewed enthusiasm, Bo practically bounded up the steps and very carefully opened the door and entered the house.

Instead of putting Tyler on the couch, Bo headed for the bathroom and put him in the tub, dirty clothes and all.

Next he went out, washed his hands and then called Doc Appleby.

He explained to the doctor exactly what had happened, and then asked for some advice.

The doctor admonished Bo for not getting the sludge off of Tyler immediatly, but he calmed down and spoke in a clear, calm manner after that.

"Clean em' up, and then do your best to try and keep his temperature at around 98.9. It will probably flucuate at the beginning, with the sludge cooling his skin, and his fever trying to overheat it." Doc Appleby said.

"Right doc, what else?" Bo asked as he glanced towards the bathroom, and the filthy twelve year old that he knew was there.

"Leave everything else to me, young man. I will be there soon." Doc Appleby said, before he hung up.

Bo also hung up the reciever and went back to the bathroom and shut the door to allow the boy a little privacy.

He turned on the hot water and adjusted the temperature.

In a few minutes, the tub was full. The crystal, clear water was now turning a muddy black, thanks to the sludge.

Finally, Bo grabbed a washcloth and some soap.

He ran the washcloth under warm water, before he lathered it with soap and began to wash off Tyler's face, neck and arms, also everywhere else that was dirty.

After that, Bo peeled Tyler's dirty clothes off and let Tyler soak for a second while he got a towel and some clean clothes, before he rinsed Tyler off.

Tyler knew that he should be embarresed, because for the past several years, he knew how to take baths and showers by himself, but at the moment, he was to tired to care, so when Bo came back and got him out of the tub, Tyler didn't flush with embarresement, he just closed his eyes as he felt the soft towel being run over his skin.

Finally, Tyler was dried off and dressed, just minutes before Doc Appleby arrived.

Bo was just carrying the now clean Tyler to the living room when Jesse let the doctor in.

"He ain't said a word, doc." Bo reported as he laid Tyler down on the couch.

Doc Appleby went over to Tyler and began to examine the boy for any cuts from the fall, or anything of that nature.

Not seeing anything, Doc Appleby drew some more blood, checked Tyler's BP and heart rate, before he gave him a shot of medicine to help bring down his fever.

"He should sleep for awhile. There's really not much else I can do for him. What he has injested has to be allowed to pass out of his system naturely.

Bo nodded his head, grateful for the doctor's assistance.

He watched as the doctor left the house, before turning his attention back on the boy who was now sleeping.

Bo wished that there was something special that he could do for Tyler, given his current condition, but there wasn't much he could do.

Bo gave a half smile as he sat in the chair, watching Tyler's fevered sleep. He felt a connection between himself and the boy. It was quite different than what he and Luke had. No, the connection between Bo and Tyler was different, it was almost a fatherly connection, but Tyler already had a father, a scumbag of a father at that, but the man was still his father.

Throughout the rest of the day, and long into the night, Bo kept watch over Tyler, even though both Uncle Jesse and Luke had begged him to get some rest, Bo had refused, saying that he needed to watch the boy.

He kept hoping that Tyler's fever would go away, and that he would wake up, but as the hours came and went, Tyler's fever rose and rose, and nothing, not cold showers, not cold cloths on the forehead, nothing could keep it down. Finally Bo was forced to fill the tube with all of the ice that they had and then stick Tyler in the tub.

That solution worked, but the very next day, Uncle Jesse sent Bo to the store to get some more ice.

----------

Tyler slowly opened his dry eyes. He was in a tub full of ice, fully clothed.

He tried to move his stiff joints, but the ice had frozen to some of his clothes and was very hard to work loose.

With much squirming, Tyler finally worked some of the ice loose so that he could crawl out of the tub.

He dropped on to the ground, brushing the ice chips off of his shirt.

"Well, glad to see you awake, son."

Tyler whirled around to see an elderly man standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

The old man had a pair of worn overall's on, over a slightly pinkish shirt.

"I'm Jesse Duke." Jesse said to Tyler as he held out an aged hand for Tyler to take.

Tyler looked at Jesse, and then his hand, before he reached out and took the offered hand.

Jesse smiled and led the twelve year old out of the bathroom and to the kitchen, where Daisy was prepairing breakfast.

After seating himself at the table, Tyler looked around.

He saw Luke outside, working on Daisy's jeep, trying to fix something from the look of it.

The General was nowhere to be seen, so Tyler deduced that Bo had taken it.

"Where's Bo?" He asked Daisy as she set the plate of food in front of him.

"Oh, he went in to town for a few bags of ice." Jesse explained as he sipped on his warm coffee.

With a sigh, Tyler chowed down on the bacon, eggs and toast that Daisy had prepaired for him.

The eggs and bacon were perfect, the best he had ever had, and the toast was beyond belief, in his opinion.

After he had finished, Jesse asked, "How're you feelin'?"

"Alright, I guess. Better than I was feelin' last night." Tyler replied.

He smiled as he stood up and thanked Daisy for the wonderful breakfast, before he went outside.

Taking a deep breath, he went over to Luke, who was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and grease.

"Hey." Tyler greeted as he came closer to Luke.

Luke looked over at Tyler, before he wiped some of the sweat off his face.

"Hey Ty. How ya' feelin'?" Luke asked.

"Alright. Better than I was feelin' last night, that's fer sure. Felt like I was in a sauna." Tyler commented as he looked at the inner workings of Daisy's jeep.

"Listen Ty, I'm sorry if I scared ya yesterday. I didn't mean to." Luke said as he selected another tool from the toolbox that was beside the jeep.

"S'alright Luke." Tyler replied as he leaned against the jeep and watched Luke work.

After several minutes he asked, "What'cha doin?"

"Trying to break this piece of rubber loose. It got jammed up against this cylinder when Rosco was chasin' Daisy two weeks ago, an now it's been makin' Dixie act up. So Daisy asked me ta take a look at it." Luke replied.

"There is an easier way ta do that, ya know." Tyler said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

Luke straightened and watched as Tyler slid under the jeep and easily jerked the piece of rubber loose before he crawled back out and stood up, showing Luke the rubber.

With a roll of his eyes, Luke took the rubber, at the same time that Uncle Jesse ran out of the house, his face all red with worry.

"What's the matter, Uncle Jesse?" Luke asked as Jesse ran for his truck.

"Bo's in trouble." Was all Jesse said, but it was enough to get Luke to spring into action.

He slammed the jeep's hood down before running for the driver's side.

Tyler, not wanting to skip out on the action, quickly slid into the passenger seat of Dixie as Luke fired her up and sped after Jesse.

Looking down, Tyler saw that the CB was off, so he switched it on while Luke grabbed the CB.

"Lost Sheep to Shepherd, what's wrong?" Luke asked.

"It's Bo. He's been kidnapped." Jesse replied as he turned on to Old Mill Road and headed South.

"What?" Luke asked to himself as he looked over at Tyler, who just shrugged his shoulders.

Before Luke could ask Jesse to explain it to him further, a sinister voice came on the line.

"That's right Gramps, an dear ol' Bo is gonna die unless you bring us what we want." The sinister man said.

"Don't listen to em' Uncle Jesse! Leave Ty out'a this!" Bo yelled in to the mic before the man had a chance to cut him off.

Luke and Tyler both heard this as they shot each other a confused look.

"Uncle Jesse, why do these men want Tyler?" Luke asked.

"Simple," The sinister man replied, "we work for his father, and his father want's him back in the hospital alive, if possible. If that ain't possible, he want's the brat dead."

Tyler grimaced. He hadn't wanted to discuss his dad's horrible past with anyone, but the truth was that when Tyler was sick, he only spent a fraction of time in the hospitals. The rest of the time he was helping his father, who was a gambler/drug dealer/hitman, who always got what he wanted.

It was his buisness, not his family that had driven Kyle Gorden to Hazzard, and it was buisness, not his son's life that forced Kyle to take his son, Tyler, to the doctor's in the first place.

Kyle needed a successer when he died, and Tyler was the best choice, even though Tyler was sick and would probably die before Kyle did.

"Uncle Jesse, It's time we listened to some country music." Luke said in to the CB, which was the signal to change to a different channel.

With the channel change, Luke asked, "What're we gonna do, Uncle Jesse?"

"We're gonna get Bo back, but, we ain't gonna give up the boy to the likes of them, either!" Jesse replied.

Luke nodded his head as he put the CB mic back. He glanced at Tyler, who had drawn up his knees to his chest, and who was hugging himself tightly.

"Don't worry Ty, we're gonna get out'a this. We won't let anything happen to you or Bo." Luke said, trying to comfort Tyler.

Tyler only nodded in response, while he thought about the man on the other end of the CB, and how he had hoped never to run in to him again.


	8. Chapter 8

Like Father, Like Son Chapter 8

Luke and Uncle Jesse pulled to a stop at the intersections of Miller's Bend and Old Mill Road.

Right on Miller's Bend was a black sedan, and beside the black sedan were two men and Bo.

Bo was in between the two men, and the taller of the men held a shotgun pointed directly at Bo's head.

Both the Dukes and the men stared at each other before Jesse left his truck, and Luke left Dixie, but not after telling Tyler to remain there.

"Well, well. I see ya brought the kid." The man with the shotgun said to Jesse.

"Yeah we brought em', but you ain't gettin' em'!" Jesse replied calmly as he eyed the men.

"Oh come now Mr. Duke. What's more important to you? The boy, or yer nephew?" The man asked.

Jesse opened his mouth to reply, but an acorn thrown from a squirrel, came down and hit the gunman in the head.

The man flinched, and that was all the time Bo needed to grab the gun and bash the first man in the head with it.

Bo dropped the gun and took off running, toward's Dixie, while the second man dove for the shotgun.

"Come on Bo, hurry up!" Tyler and Luke yelled in unison, from the safety of Dixie.

With frightened eyes, Tyler watched as Bo ran for all his was worth, while Jeffery McCandles, the man with the shotgun, cocked it and started to aim it.

Reality struck as the shotgun went off and Bo fell to the ground, clutching his leg.

Not thinking, Tyler scrambled out of the jeep, ran over, and began to drag a protesting Bo over to the jeep, while Jeffery was recocking the gun.

Tyler grunted and groaned as he dragged Bo closer, and closer to Dixie, while glancing up at Jeffery from time to time.

A small gopher hole actually saved Tyler's life, because the second his foot hit the hole, he fell, at the same time that Jeffery fired the shotgun.

The round flew through the air, embedding itself in a tree just behind Dixie, while Tyler picked himself up and finally dragged Bo the rest of the way behind the jeep.

Luke immediately fell down next to Bo, checking his baby cousin over, looking for any other wounds besides his leg, while Tyler joined Uncle Jesse, who was crouched beside the jeep, watching Jeffery who lept behind his car.

Standing up, Jeffery aimed his gun and began firing at Dixie, hoping to chase the Dukes out from behind it, but they didn't budge, knowing that he would kill them all if they moved from the safety of the jeep.

Looking up ahead, Tyler saw Jesse's truck, but more importantly, he saw that the driver side door was still open on the truck!

He looked over at Jesse, who was still watching Jeffery, who was still firing at Dixie.

Not thinking twice, Tyler took off for the truck, blocking Jesse and Luke's voices from his mind. All he was concentrating on was the truck, and how he needed to get to it.

Dimly he heard gunshots and felt the dirt spray his legs as the bullets embedded themselves in the ground, right next to him, but this didn't deter Tyler, because he kept running.

The truck was almost within reach, just another few seconds and he would be there. Glancing over at Jeffery, Tyler dimly realized that he might not have a few seconds, because it was obvious that he was in Jeffery's sights that very moment.

Tyler closed his eyes, expecting to hear the sound of the gun going off, and the biting pain of the bullet hitting his skin, but nothing happened.

Opening his eyes, Tyler barely stopped himself from running in to the door of the truck.

Glancing around, Tyler saw Jeffery, his gun in the air, being marched somewhere by Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and Deputy Enos Strate.

Tyler breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Jeffery being placed in the back of the police car, and when he heard the wail of an ambulance siran off in the distance.

With a shake of his head, Tyler walked back over to his new friends and stopped in front of Luke, who glanced up at him.

"Jus' what were you thinkin' Ty? You could'a been killed!" Luke said, rather nastily.

"I...I'm sorry...I jus'..." Tyler stammered, the clear reason he had being pushed from his mind by the angry stare of Luke Duke.

"Jus' what? You had a death wish, is that it!" Luke asked.

"Luke that's enough!" Jesse said, seeing how much Luke's words were upsetting the boy.

Luke nodded his head as he said, "Sorry Uncle Jesse."

With a slight glare, Luke returned his full attention to Bo, who had his eyes closed from the pain in his leg.

Finally, the ambulance pulled to a stop and the attendents got out. Quickly they placed Bo on the stretcher and loaded him up in to the ambulance.

While one attendent drove, the other checked Bo over, recording his stats and things like that.

Jesse, Luke and Tyler watched the work, and then drive off, the cloud of dust the ambulance left, spurring Jesse in to action.

"Come on, we best follow em'." Jesse said as he headed for his truck.

Luke nodded and was about to jump in to Dixie when he saw the bullet holes in the side, plus the flat tires. There was absolutly no way he would be driving Dixie to the hospital, so there was only one thing left to do. Ride with Jesse and Tyler and hopefully reach Cooter on the CB and ask him to pick up the jeep. Maybe if he got it fixed in a hurry, Daisy wouldn't even notice!

Tyler got in to the jeep and pressed as close to Jesse as he could, while Luke got in after him. He slammed the door, wishing that Tyler had chosen to ride in the bed of the truck instead of the cab. With a glance at them, Jesse started the drive to the hospital.

-------------------------------

The drive to the hospital was short and sweet, but it was to long in Luke's opinion. The moment the truck stopped, Luke lept out of the truck and walked inside, followed by Jesse and Tyler, who cringed, hoping that his nurses wouldn't see him, because he knew that if they were to see him, they would just march him back to his room, put the IV's back in, and maybe this time they would slap on some restraints to keep where he was supposed to be, which was in a hospital bed.

Jesse and Tyler sat down in the waiting room while Luke went to the reception area and asked about his cousin.

The nurse at the desk assured Luke that a doctor would be out to talk with them soon, so Luke turned and went back to the waiting room.

He sat down in a chair, on the other side of his uncle, away from Tyler.

"What'd the doctors say?" Uncle Jesse asked Luke, who never took his eyes off the hallway where the doctors were.

"The receptionist said that a doc'd come talk to us soon." Luke replied evenly.

Jesse nodded and settled in to wait, but the wait was not long.

Within fifteen minutes a doctor in her mid to late twenties walked down the hall and stopped right in front of them.

Quickly Luke, Jesse and Tyler stood up, looking at her.

"How's ma' cousin?" Luke asked, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"He's going to be fine. The bullet was through and through and didn't damage his bones or leg muscles." The doctor replied with a small smile.

That news made Jesse and Luke sigh with relief and shut their eyes for a second.

"May we see em'?" Jesse asked after a minute.

"Yes of course, I'll take you to his room." The doctor replied with a nod of her head.

She was about to lead Jesse and Luke to Bo's room when she glanced down and saw Tyler standing right beside Jesse, with a strange look on his face.

"Tyler Roy Gordon, what the heck are you doing out of bed!" She asked.

Tyler cringed before he looked up at the doctor.

"Hi Dr. Kim." He greeted as Dr. Mary Kim took him by the shoulders and marched him back to his room, with the Dukes following.

Once back in his room, Dr. Kim picked Tyler up and put him back in bed before she stuck his arm's full of IV's and placed the dreaded, plastic restraints on him.

The restraints connected Tyler's wrist to the bed and made it impossible to leave the bed.

With a sigh Tyler laid his bed back and stared at the ceiling, wondering how he was going to get out of this one, while Dr. Kim took Luke and Jesse to Bo's room.

Bo was sitting up in his bed with a cast on his leg when Luke and Jesse entered the room.

Bo greeted his cousin and Uncle with a smile, and gratefully hugged them.

"Bo, were you tryin' to give me a heart attack, back there?" Luke asked, thinking back to one hour ago.

"Sorry Luke, things jus' happened." Bo replied sheepishly.

Luke smiled and ruffled Bo's hair, while his baby cousin batted Luke's hand away.

"What did happen?" Jesse asked, wanting to get Bo's story.

"Well I did get the ice but them two guys stopped me after I left the store. They didn't tell me nothin', they jus' shoved me in to the backseat of their car an drove off." Bo said.

While Jesse was mulling over what Bo said, Bo realized that Tyler wasn't there.

"Where's Tyler?" He asked.

"Dr. Kim took em' back to his room." Luke replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

After he heard that, Bo started trying to stand up on his good leg, while falling back down on to his bed, several times in the process!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do ya think yer goin'?" Uncle Jesse asked, putting a hand on his nephew's shoulder.

"I'm going to see Tyler. He hates hospitals and don't trust the doctors." Bo replied, looking up at his uncle.

Uncle Jesse, catching the gleam in Bo's eye, quickly left the room, returning moments later with a wheelchair.

Bo smiled gratefully and quickly settled himself in to the wheelchair, and allowing his uncle to push him from the room.

Bo, Luke and Jesse went up one floor and down a hallway before they stopped at a door. Luke opened the door and waited as Jesse pushed his wounded nephew in to the room.

Tyler, who had been trying to fall asleep, instantly opened his eyes and sat up when Bo was pushed in to the room by his uncle.

"Bo!" Tyler said happily, as a smile grew on his face at seeing his friend and brother.

"Hey kiddo, how ya doin'?" Bo asked as his uncle pushed him over to Tyler's bed.

"Ok, sept fer these." Tyler said, moving his arms to show Bo the restraints that attached him to the bed.

The restraints were starting to make his skin itch and they were mighty uncomfortable whenever they got warm from his body heat. But they were also impossible to remove, except by a doctor.

Reaching out, Bo started to fiddle with one of the restraints, trying to loosen it, when a passing doctor looked in to the room and saw what he was doing.

"What are you doing?" The doctor asked as he entered the room, hands on his hips.

"Taking these things off. He don't need them." Bo replied as he finally got the one restraint off and started working on the other one.

"Yes he does! We can't have him running up and down the halls He even disippeared earlier this morning!" The doctor replied, getting slightly angry.

"He does not need them. How would you like it if he put them things on you and restrained you too?" Bo asked.

"I'm sorry, but orders are orders."

With a sigh, Bo looked at the doctor and asked, "How about if I stay here with em'? I don't think he'll be up and about if he has someone to keep him company."

"Well, I suppose that will be fine for awhile, but, we will need to take him back for another round of tests." The doctor replied.

At hearing the word 'test', Tyler started to breathe faster as he shook his head and shrieked, "No!"

He hated tests because he was always poked with needles, the doctor's hands were cold, and they weren't very friendly. Plus, some of the tests themselves really hurt.

"Oh an' I'll go with em' when he goes for his tests." Bo said, in a tone that left no room for arguments.

The doctor shook his head and said, "I don't think I can allow that."

"Sir, I don't care what you say, I'm gonna go with him." Bo replied in the same tone of voice.

The doctor sighed, turned and left the room, while Bo turned his attention back to Tyler, who was calming down now that the doctor was gone.

Bo and Tyler talked for a few minutes about the farm, Hazzard in general, and about the General Lee. It never occured to Bo that the doctor actually might tell someone about his desision to accompany Tyler to his next round of tests.

But, that thought came to mind when a big, hulking man in a buisness suit, and a black, leather coat entered the room and crossed his arms.

"Son, why are you interacting with these local hayseeds?" Kyle Gordon asked his son.

Kyle Gordon, the gambler/drug dealer/hitman. He was a dangerous man who would just as soon put a bullet in you, than talk to you.

He had no love for anyone, not even his son, well, maybe a little for his son, but the only reason he was paying to have Tyler in the hospital, was because he would need the boy later on, even if the cancer was still going to kill him.

"Dad, they're not hayseeds!" Tyler replied, looking at his father for a second.

"He's yer father?" Bo asked, also looking at the man before he looked back at Tyler in time to see him nod his head.

"Yeah."

"I don't mean to sound rude but, he's scary." Bo said with a slight chuckle in his voice.

What he said was the truth, but he had meant it lightly, but apparently Kyle didn't like what Bo had said, because he gave Bo a dangerous, angry glare.

"I know, but.." Tyler began, but he was inturrupted when his father yelled, "SHUT YER MOUTH!"

"Hey, don't be yellin' at him!" Bo said, also getting angry at Kyle's behavior.

Kyle was seconds away from clobbering Bo, when a passing nurse said, "No fighting in this hospital."

"Yeah, you heard the doctor. No fighting in this hospital!" Bo said, repeating the nurse's words.

For just a second Kyle was at a loss for words, when suddenly an idea struck him.

He pointed a finger at Bo as he said menacingly, "Say goodbye while you can, HICK! I'm takin' my son out'a this hospital where he can't be influenced by stupid ol' hicks like you!"

With an icy glare, Kyle left the room to fill out the release forms.


	9. Chapter 9

Like Father, Like Son Chapter 9

After Kyle had left the room, Bo had slumped down in the chair, completly exhausted. His mind and his body were begging him to shut his eyes, but he kept trying to resist.

"Luke...remind me to...never...do that...again." Bo said softly, trying to ward off sleep, which was trying to overtake his mind.

Luke saw this and knew his cousin wouldn't be awake for to much longer. "You got it Bo. So, I trust you have a plan?"

Luke gazed at his cousin intently for a second, before he straightened up with a sigh, since Bo had fallen asleep before he could answer.

"He ok?" Tyler asked, looking at Bo for a second, forgetting his feelings towards Luke.

"Yeah he's alright. He's jus' sleepin'." Luke said kindly, not wishing to fight with Tyler since it might wake Bo up. Instead he just went to the door to keep a look out in case Mr. Gordon should return, but he never did return. Only a few nurses came and went after checking on Tyler and Bo.

Hours went by, hours in which Luke sat pondering his cousin and his newfound friend. Or was Tyler more than just a friend to Bo?

More than once Luke had heard Tyler and Bo use the word "brother", and Luke was beginning to believe that their relationship was growing stronger, and it was growing beyond the term of friend, and brother. Why, Luke wouldn't be supprised if, someday soon, that Bo and Tyler would be father and son, and that would happen if Luke knew Bo, which he did.

But the bad thing was, Tyler already had a father. A jerk and a snake of a father, but Kyle was still his father, and Luke doubted that Kyle would take going to court to fight over Tyler's custody, well. Luke had heard a few things about Kyle Gordon. He was a cheater at gambling, and would kill the other players whenever he lost conciderably. It was because of the rumers that Luke's worry over Tyler, grew. If Tyler survived his father's wrath, would he grow up just like Kyle. The old saying, 'Like Father, Like Son' flashed through Luke's mind just then, and then he knew that Tyler had to be taken away from Kyle, if not just for his physical safety, but for his mental safety as well.

Luke was jerked out of his reverie when a nurse came and placed Tyler in a wheelchair, after disconnecting him from his IV's.

"Where ya takin' him?" Luke asked the nurse.

"I'm taking him to complete his next round of tests." The nurse replied, which was a bald faced lie. Kyle had bribed the nurse, giving her $5000 to tell Luke this, when instead he was just taking his son out of the hospital, and away from the Dukes, who in Kyle's mind, were influencing Tyler, giving him the wrong ideas, and ideals, making him into a good ol' country boy when he needed to become a dirty, ruthless man, just like his father.

With a nod of his head, Luke watched as the nurse pushed Tyler's wheelchair out of the room. He listened to the door click shut, and never once did it occur to Luke that the nurse had lied to him.

--------------------------------------

Six hours later, Bo Duke finally woke up. He had been placed in Tyler's vacated bed, much to Luke and Bo's suprise.

When Tyler hadn't come back, Luke had questioned the nurses, and had learned from a passing doctor that Tyler was no longer a patient at the hospital. Only then had Luke realized what Kyle had done. But, Luke also knew that he couldn't go after Tyler alone. He would need Bo, and he knew that Bo would be more than willing to go after Kyle, if it meant getting Tyler back.

Bo opened his eyes with a sigh and looked around the room, focusing on his cousin who seemed a little antsy about something.

"Luke? Where's...where's Tyler?" Bo asked, swallowing several times to get his throat wet.

"Kyle took em' out'a the hospital several hours ago, Bo." Luke said.

Bo sat bolt upright at hearing that. He ignored the twinge of pain in his leg as he tried to stand up, only to fall back down on to the bed.

"We gotta go after em'!" Bo said in desperation as he looked Luke right in the eyes.

Luke smiled and exited the room, returning minutes later with a wheelchair.

He helped get Bo situated, before he pushed Bo out of the room, picking up speed as he went through the halls and out of the building.

Luke never did stop till he was beside the General.

He stopped the wheelchair and quickly helped Bo in to the driver's seat, since it was Bo's left leg that was shot, and since Luke knew that Bo would want to drive.

Once Bo was in, Luke stashed the wheelchair in the trunk before he lept into the passenger seat and turned to look at Bo.

"Punch it, cuz'!" He said with a smile.

"With pleasure!" Bo replied as he turned the key and listened to the General's powerful engine as it roared to life.

With a smile on his face, Bo put it into gear and roared off, while all the while he prayed that he was going in the right direction to save Tyler.

-----------------------------------

Tyler was sitting, handcuffed, to the passenger seat of his father's souped up sport's sedan. The car had been built for style, as well as speed. With it's all leather interior, and custom made steering wheel, and tires. The sedan really was a sight to behold, but at the moment, the car was at a local gas stop, filling up it's tank so that it would have enough to leave the state of Georgia.

When Tyler had been wheeled outside, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Kyle had been trying something. And seeing that victorious grin on Kyle's face was enough to send a shiver through his son.

When Tyler had been loaded up in to the car, he had never been so afraid, and it never went away, even as his father got into the car and pulled away from the hospital.

He never once spoke harshly to Tyler, or raised a hand to hurt him...heck, he rarely even talked to his son, but Tyler knew this 'lull in the storm' could only last so long.

Sighing, Tyler looked out the window, and a smile grew on his face when he saw the familar orange dodge charger come roaring up, closing in on them.

His smile widened when Kyle quickly filled up the tank and jumped into the car, quickly roaring out of the gas station split seconds before the General reached that point.

Tyler tried to wave at Bo and Luke, just to make sure that they had seen him, but Kyle cuffed him in the back of the head, making tears spring to his eyes.

But that cuff in the head also tore Tyler's wrist free of the handcuff, though it did leave his skin pink and slightly bloody.

Inside the General, when Bo had seen Kyle cuff Tyler in the back of the head, he grew furious.

With anger, Bo slammed into the side of Kyle's car, trying to force it off the road, or at least to slow down, but Kyle somehow managed to keep his car on the road.

"Bo, pull over on em'!" Luke suggested, seeing that the General was seconds away from getting in front of Kyle's car, but Kyle heard what Luke said, and replied, "Not on you're life, hayseed!"

He swirved, hitting the General and neatly scratching the General's paint job, before he reached in to his pocket and withdrew a small pistol.

He aimed it out the window and prepared to fire, but one thing he was not counting on, was his son. Because Tyler had seen the gun and the moment Kyle had the gun cocked, Tyler had jerked on his arm, causing the bullet that had been meant for Luke, to go flying through the General to hit a piece of the inner workings of the car.

Warning lights flashed on the General's display, causing Bo to slow down.

With dispair in his eyes, Tyler watched as the General got further and further behind them. He glanced at his father, who chuckled and said, "Well, they won't be bothering us again."

It was then that Tyler made his desision. He knew that he could never live with a man, or call this man his dad if he tried to take the life of one of his son's friends. With detirmination, Tyler wrenched open the door of the car and jumped out, right on to a pile of jagged rocks, that tore through his torso painfully.

Tyler didn't care about the pain, all he cared about was being with his new friends, and being away from his father. Half of his wish was done, now all he had to do was get up, go to the General, and it would be all over, but as Tyler tried to get up, his arms slipped, sending him back down on to the rocks. The pain of falling on them again, sent Tyler in to unconsciousness.

---------------------

With horror, Bo watched Tyler land on the rocks. He floored the General, ignoring the warning lights on the General, that were telling him to stop. Only when Bo had reached Tyler, did he jerk the General to a stop. Then, ignoring his casted leg, Bo somehow managed to get out of the car and limp over to Tyler, while Luke followed, ready to catch his cousin if he should lose his balance, but Bo never did.

Bo stopped infront of Tyler's still form, but because of the cast, he couldn't bend down to check on the boy, so Bo looked up at Luke, who read the unspoken request.

Slowly, Luke reached down and placed two fingers on Tyler's neck. He sighed with relief when he felt the boy's pulse.

It was weak, but it was there, and that was all that mattered.

"He's alive. Come on Bo, we gotta get em' to Doc Appleby's." Luke said, picking Tyler up off of the rocks.

He knew that Tyler wouldn't want to go back to the hospital, so Doc Appleby's was the next best thing to a hospital, in Hazzard County!

"But Luke, the General's out'a commission! How we' gonna get em' there?" Bo asked.

Luke was about to answer when he saw Kyle's car do a U-Turn and start heading back their way.

Knowing that they didn't have much time, Luke passed Tyler to Bo as he said, "I've got an idea. Contact Cooter on the CB while I distract Ty's dad."

Bo nodded as he slid Tyler in to the car and grabbed for the CB, while Luke started walking towards Tyler's car, which was fast approaching him.

Luke never took his eyes off the black car, and Kyle never took his eyes off of Luke.

They stared at each other, Luke on foot, Kyle behind the wheel of the car.

At the last second, Luke lept aside and rolled on to his knees, watching as Kyle lost control of his car and smashed in to a tree.

Smoke and fluids began to pour from the hood of Kyle's car seconds later.

Smiling, Luke walked back over to Bo, having no compulsion to go over and help Kyle out.

"Did ya get ahold of Cooter?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, he's on his way." Bo replied as he glanced at the now semi-conscious Tyler.

Tyler groaned, so Bo gently removed him from the General, and held him close.

"B..bo?" Tyler asked softly as he opened pain filled eyes to look at the blond haired Duke.

"I'm here, kiddo." Bo said, carefully balancing his weight on his good leg as he shifted Tyler in his arms.

Tyler managed a weak smile as he tried to snuggle up closer to Bo.

"You ok, Ty?" Bo asked, although he knew that Tyler wouldn't be ok until he saw the doctor.

"My back hurts...my head too." Tyler replied, having absolutly no idea that parts of his chest were wide open, thanks to the rocks that he had landed on.

Before Bo could reply to that, Tyler looked around and saw what was left of his father's car.

"Don't worry Ty, he won't hurt you anymore." Bo said, hugging Tyler the best he could.

Tyler nodded his head, glad of that.

Minutes went by before Cooter's towtruck pulled to a stop.

Luke and Bo clammored in and told Cooter where they needed to go, while all the while never knowing that Kyle was still alive, and watching them.


	10. Chapter 10

Like Father, Like Son Chapter 10

Cooter took his friends, Bo and Luke to the hospital so they could get some help to Tyler, who was just barely hanging on. But, what they didn't know was that minutes after they had left the accident site, Kyle Gordon had managed to crawl out of his wrecked car, and flag down Sheriff Coltrane, who then in turn took Kyle to the hospital, but it was the same hospital that Cooter had taken the Dukes to!

When Kyle was rushed in to the hospital, he immediately saw Bo and Luke who were sitting in uncomfortable looking, plastic chairs, while they were waiting for news on Tyler. Because of the number of doctors who had surrounded Kyle when he had first entered the hospital, had prevented Bo and Luke from identifying Kyle, because if they had, Bo and Luke would have been on him like ugly on a moose!

While Kyle was being tended to, Bo and Luke kept staring at their hands, while they waited for a doctor. For Luke, the waiting around was making him anxious. Anxious to know the extent of Ty's injuries, and just how Bo would react once a doctor did come out to speak with them. For Bo, the waiting around was making him worry about the boy.

He cared greatfully for the boy...perhaps to much, but he couldn't help it.

Was it because Tyler reminded Bo of himself at that age? Maybe so. Was it because Tyler's life was so hard and would get worse if he had stayed with his dad? Who knows. All Bo knew was that he deeply cared for Tyler, just like any parent would.

But, Bo wasn't Tyler's parent, and since Kyle was out of the question, Tyler would become a ward of the state!

Bo was broken out of his reverie when a doctor stopped right in front of them with a grim look on his face.

"How's Tyler?" Bo asked as he stood up, with the help of his cousin.

"While his injuries were fairly severe, I believe that he will survive. All he needs to do is take it easy for awhile." The doctor replied as he stuck his hands in to his pockets.

"Can I see em'?" Bo asked, hoping that he would be allowed to.

He smiled when the doctor nodded his head and jestured down the hall.

Carefully, Bo and Luke managed to follow the doctor as he led them down several halls, and through several doors.

Finally, when Bo began to think that the doctor didn't know where he was taking them, they stopped, right outside of a room.

Without so much as a look back, the doctor pushed open the door and held it open while Bo and Luke shuffled in to the room.

The first thing they saw was Tyler, lying on the bed with an O2 mask on his face, and bandages all over his chest. The second thing they saw was a man standing right in front of Tyler's bed, with an angry look on his face. The man had cuts on his face and arms, and drops of dried blood were on his scalp as well.

Slowly, the man turned around to face the Dukes, who gasped slightly when they saw who the man was.

It was Kyle, torn coat and all!

In Kyle's hands was a revolver that he had grabbed back from a doctor, split seconds before he had knocked that doctor out. Now, that gun was pointed at Bo and Luke, who were so mad that they didn't even bother to raise their hands.

"I hate interference," Kyle said as he glared at Bo and Luke, "and I hate country hicks like you who think they have the right to brainwash my son!"

"If we're talkin' about brainwashin', what do you think yer doin' to him?!" Bo said, raising his voice slightly as he took a step towards Kyle.

"He's my son, an I can teach em' anything I want!" Kyle spat out as he cocked his gun and aimed it at Bo, who was getting closer.

Bo shook his head before he took off running and slammed in to Kyle before he had a chance to fire the gun.

The momentum of Bo knocking in to Kyle, slammed the both of them into the defibrillator, sending the machine tumbling to the floor.

Hitting the defibrillator didn't deter Bo as he punched Kyle over and over. Rage was boiling up inside of Bo, and had been ever since he had met Tyler, and now he was just releasing it on the one person who had wasted away much of Tyler's life.

With a grunt, Kyle threw Bo off of him and scrambled up, looking for the gun, but Bo quickly recovered and tackled Kyle to the ground, punching Kyle in the ribs.

Kyle grunted, but quickly came back with a punch to Bo's jaw, that sent the younger man flying back a little ways, to land against Tyler's bed.

Bo, being slightly dazed, didn't get up, which gave Kyle time to look for his gun, or...so he thought. However, when Luke had seen his cousin go down, he immediately rushed and threw Kyle to the ground, away from his gun, before delivering a swift kick to Kyle's ribs.

Kyle closed his eyes and warded off the pain of the blow, before he looked up and blocked Luke's next kick, before tumbling the Duke boy to the ground, and kicking him in the upper torso.

"How do you like it? Huh?! Huh?!!" Kyle roared angerily before he left Luke and began to search for his gun. Not finding it, Kyle reached in to his pocket and withdrew the pocketknife that his father had given to him when he had been a boy. Flicking open the largest blade, Kyle whirled around to meet the full force of Bo's fist.

Bo had gotten up off the floor the minute Kyle had reached in to his pocket. When he had seen the knife blade, Bo knew that he had to act, so the only thing he could do was punch Kyle.

He smiled as he watched Kyle stumble back, but that smile quickly wore off when Kyle lunged at Bo!

Kyle locked himself against Bo as he punched at the youngest Duke Boy with all his might.

Luke who had seen the lunge couldn't do anything to help his baby cousin, because he had also seen the knife that Kyle held. After watching Bo and Kyle tussle for several minutes, Luke averted his gaze as the door opened and two police officer's from the state of Georgia stood there.

The police officer's took in the fight and within the blink of an eye, they deduced that it was Kyle that was trying to do bodily harm to Bo, and not the other way around, but before they could break up the combatants, both Kyle and Bo fell to the ground and lay still.

Finally after several seconds, Bo picked himself up and moved away from the now dead form of Kyle Gordon. Bo backed up against the wall, now in shock at having killed a man, even if it was in self defense. The police men, however, were not in shock, because they preformed their job effortlessly.

Getting statements from Luke and little tidbits of info from Bo, and getting doctors to clean up the mess and dispose of the body.

After three hours, the room was now back to it's former glory. All of the blood had been cleaned up and the defibrillator was now back on it's wheels and in it's proper place.

Luke was sitting next to Bo, who was sitting by the side of Tyler's bed, staring off in to space.

Luke knew that sometime soon, a social worker would come to collect Tyler since he now had no family, but, Luke also knew that Tyler's leaving would be the worst thing for Bo, since they had bonded so closely.

Sighing, Luke guessed there was really only one thing they could do.

Leaning in, Luke whispered, "Bo."

When Bo didn't respond, Luke shook Bo's shoulder, snapping Bo out of his state.

Bo turned puffy, red, tearful eyes towards Luke, who looked back at him calmly.

Luke licked his lips, before he cleared his throat and said, "Bo, I hate ta bring this up so soon after...well...after what happened, but, ya do realize that after Ty gets better that he's gonna be goin to an orphanage, or into foster care."

Bo nodded his head, but didn't say anything.

"Well...do you want Tyler to go?" Luke asked, point blank as he fixed Bo with a compassionate stare.

Slowly, Bo shook his head and whispered, "No."

"Why don't you adopt him, Bo? He already likes and trusts you, an I can tell how much the two of you have bonded..." Luke prompted.

Bo shook his head fearfully as he said, "I can't Luke. I can't adopt Tyler! What if...what if I turn into Tyler's real father?"

"I won't say that there wouldn't be many hard roads ahead of the both of you, but I know fer a fact that you would never treat Tyler like his real father did. Yer kind an compassionate an you've already gained Ty's approval." Luke said.

Bo looked down at the ground for a second, thinking, while down in the lobby, Mr. Neal Young, from the Baptist Children's Home, was filling out the paperwork nessessary to release Tyler in to his custody.

Mr. Young had been working on another case when he had heard about the incident in room #513, so he had taken it upon himself to take care of Tyler as well.

After completing the paperwork, Neal walked down the hall, quickly finding to room.

Neal pushed the door open with ease and stepped in to the room. He smiled when he saw two young men in the room, who turned to look at him.

"My name is Neal Young. I work for the Baptist Children's Home." Neal said as he walked over and looked at the still unconscious boy.

Luke cleared his throat, getting Neal's attention, as he said, "I'm Luke Duke, that's ma cousin, Bo."

"Pleased to meet you both. Are you friends of Tyler's?" Neal asked.

"Yes sir, we are." Bo said evenly as he looked down at Tyler's limp form.

"It's such a shame. So young and having no place to call home. I remember I was just about his age when my parents dropped me of at the children's home. I could never understand why they did it, and after several years I stopped wondering." Neal said, looking up at Bo and Luke.

"Who adopted you, if ya don't mind my askin'?" Luke asked.

Sadly, Neal shook his head and said, "No one ever did. I stayed at the Children's Home until I turned 20, then I got a job working there. I vowed to myself that no other child would have to go through what I went through. No pain of rejection, no endless days of sitting on your bed, wondering what's become of your world."

As Neal told his story, tears had begun to roll down Bo's face as he wondered how Tyler's life would be if he didn't adopt him, and decided he wouldn't want to find out.

Wiping his tears away, Bo looked at Neal and said, "Mr. Young, I want to adopt Tyler."

A smile spread across both Neal and Luke's faces, when they heard Bo's proclimation.

Neal bent down and took out a piece of paper from his briefcase and handed it to Bo, along with a pen.

"You do understand what yer getting yourself into? If you are accepted, you will be fully responsible for the boy's well being." Neal said as he watched Bo look over the form, and then sign it.

"I understand, sir. Ty means alot to me, and I ain't about to let em' be sent to an orphanage!" Bo replied as be handed to form back to Neal, who stuffed it in to his briefcase, before he took the pen back and also put it in the briefcase.

After that, Neal stood and shook hands with Bo and Luke. He then explained to Bo that there were going to be some tests and interviews, not to mention, several people who would have to come out to the farm to inspect the place, before Bo's application would be accepted.

Bo nodded his head and told Mr. Young that he understood what had to happen, before he watched Mr. Young leave the room.

Once he was gone, Bo looked over at his cousin, who had a big smile on his face.

Quickly, Luke drew Bo in to a big hug as he said, "I'm proud of you, Bo."

Bo smiled at that before he released Luke and sat down beside Tyler's bed, wishing that the boy would wake up.

-----------------------------

Slowly two weeks passed, and still Tyler showed no signs of waking up. The doctor's were stumped, not to mention bombarded with questions from both Bo and Luke.

Finally they admitted that they didn't know why Tyler wasn't awake, which rewarded them with angry glares from the Duke's.

Light shone through the window in Tyler's room, illuminating the place. Luke was sacked out in the other bed on the other side of the room, Bo was sleeping in the chair, his blond, curly head resting on the edge of Tyler's bed. Jesse and Daisy were sleeping, side- by -side in two other chairs.

As the sun shone in the room, one of the people in the room finally opened his eyes.

Slowly, Tyler blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light. As he looked around the room, he saw all of the Dukes, who were sleeping in chairs, or in Luke's case, the other bed.

Tyler then looked down and saw that his hand was in Bo's hand, and that Bo's head was lying on his bed. A smile broke out on Tyler's face as he looked at Bo's sleeping form.

Carefully, Tyler removed his hand from Bo's hand, but that little movement woke up the young Duke Boy.

Bo yawned and lifted his head before he looked over at Tyler, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Tyler's blue eyes looking back at him.

"Yer awake.." Bo whispered softly before a huge smile broke out on his face and he said loudly, "Yer awake!"

That declaration woke everyone in the room up from a sound sleep.

"Bo, keep yer voice down." Jesse said as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

"Sorry Uncle Jesse but, Tyler's awake!" Bo replied joyfully as he glanced at his uncle.

At hearing that, everyone came over and crowded around Tyler's bed.

Bo wisely stayed quiet as he watched his family talk with Tyler...his son. During the past two weeks, many people had come to the farm to look it over, not to mention asking him questions, and practically picking his background clean, but since that got Bo's application accepted, it was well worth it.

Now all Bo had to do was break the news to Tyler, but he wasn't sure quite how to do it.

He was broken out of his reverie when a doctor shook his shoulder and asked him to move, in a quite annoyed manner.

Quickly Bo left the chair and watched as the doctor checked Tyler over, before giving him a clean bill of health.

"He will have to stay here for a few more days, but I'm happy to say that his wounds are healing well." The doctor said, much to the delight of the Duke's, and to Tyler.

Once the doctor left, Bo cleared his throat, wanting to get his confession over with.

"Ty, I...need ta tell you somethin'." Bo said.

Tyler, sensing the seriousness in Bo's voice, turned his full attention to Bo.

"While you were...out of it...me an Luke had another run in with yer father." Bo said.

"He didn't hurt ya, did he?" Tyler asked, getting a little worried.

If Kyle had hurt his new friends, Tyler would never forgive himself. But, as Tyler saw the look in Bo's eyes, he knew that wasn't the case.

"No but..." Bo began, but thankfully he was saved from going any farther.

"Ma dad's dead..isn't he?" Tyler asked, matter-of-factly.

Slowly, Bo nodded his head and looked down, not being able to look Tyler in the eyes.

"Who did it?" Tyler asked calmly.

Before Bo could say anything else, Luke told Tyler what had happened, from beginning to end. How Kyle had been trying to shoot Bo, and then the scuffle with the knife. When Luke was done, Tyler looked down for a second, before he looked over at Bo.

"I don't blame you, Bo. It was self defense." Tyler said.

That made Bo look up at his son with awe, as he said, "I thought you'd hate me."

"No, I could never hate you Bo. Yer my best friend." Tyler replied.

Bo chuckled a little before he said, "Ty, I've got somethin' else ta tell ya. Two weeks ago a social worker stopped by an.."

"When do I leave?" Tyler asked, inturrupting Bo, because he thought Bo was telling him that he would be leaving with the social worker.

"Leavin'? To go where?" Bo asked.

"The orphanage." Tyler replied softly.

Bo put an arm around Tyler as he said, "Ty, you ain't goin' to no orphanage, well...not unless ya really want to."

"What do you mean?"

"Ty, you already have a home...with me, my cousin's an my uncle." Bo said calmly.

"You...you mean.." Tyler said, not believing Bo, until the young Duke boy smiled and nodded his head.

"I jus couldn't let you go Ty, so I did the only thing a good friend would do...I adopted you." Bo said.

A huge smile spread across Tyler's face, as several tears ran down his cheeks. Quickly he wrapped his arms around Bo's neck and hugged him, never wanting to let go. While Tyler was hugging him, Bo wrapped both of his arms around his son, while he looked at his family, who were all standing there smiling at him.

Knowing that Tyler had accepted him made Bo warm and happy, and Bo decided to make it his mission in life to make sure that Tyler had the proper childhood that he deserved with what time he had left.

With that promise sealed, Bo closed his eyes and hugged his son tighter.

THE END

A/N: This is the end of part 1, please stay tuned for part 2 'Past Regret's', coming soon.


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